A full smile came from him. “No. Most aren’t aware of me ‘analyzing’ them. That reaction was a mate reaction.”
That word again.
“You don’t seem happy about that.” I was going out on a limb here, my heart was picking up, pounding harder.
His eyes flicked up to mine, but returned just as quick to my mouth.
He spoke, but he did it very quietly. “I’ve not had a mate for three centuries. It’s…an unusual feeling to have again.” He looked away. “And there’s changes that need to be made.”
Changes.
Unusual feeling.
He so wasn’t happy about it.
I sat up, bringing my knees up and I wrapped my arms around them. I hugged them to my chest, propping my chin on top of one. “Nothing has to change, you know. I mean, Rakon said my creature was his mate—” I stopped at the look Kieran gave me. “What?”
“You are your creature now. When we brought you back here, Rakon claimed you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He breathed on you. The mating mark surfaced over you, that’s what helped merge you and your creature together.”
I—I have no idea what to think about that.
You know about mate marks.
I did, but they were almost as mythical as Kieran himself. It was an age-old belief that was believed to be, well, in the ages.
“Where is it?”
“On your back.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You had passed out.”
“Is that why I’m hurting?”
He shook his head. “Mate marks don’t hurt. Do you want to see it?”
I nodded. Oh boy, did I.
He came over, and he bent down. His arms slid under me, and whoosh, he picked me up.
I squawked from the suddenness of the action, my arms going around him in reflex.
Most of it was reflex. Some of it. I was totally melting on the inside all over again.
Kieran’s gaze moved to mine, and he stayed there, watching me as he carried me into his bathroom.
He set me on the vanity and stood between my legs. Still holding my gaze, his hands moved to my shirt. I was in a tanktop, and he pushed up the bottom, lifting it up and over me. I was still in my bra from last night.
His gaze trailed behind me.
I looked back, and gasped.
It was beautiful.
A full winding dragon stretched over my entire back. The edges were detailed and looked as if the dragon was on fire. Its mouth was raised toward my neck, open, and it looked as if fire itself was rising upwards.
“That came because he breathed on me?”
His hand flexed next to my leg. “That and because we held you in our mouth when we flew you here. The combination of both.”
I’d never seen something as beautiful as that mark, and I felt an underlying pulsating inside of me. As if feeling it too, Kieran moved closer into me, his voice coming out rough, “That’s Rakon. He can feel you.”
I lifted my eyes in the mirror, seeing Kieran looking at me and the intensity in his eyes stole that breath from my throat. I almost gasped, but then Kieran turned to the mirror and his eyes found mine there. There was a fierce emotion mixing with his intensity and a warmth was spreading inside of me, just from seeing it.
My heart began beating even harder.
“Do you want to feel your mark?”
I nodded. I so very badly wanted to touch it.
“Touch it through me.” He raised his hand, as if asking for my permission, and I nodded again.
He leaned closer, his breath coating my shoulder as his finger touched at the base of the mark first.
A surge of pleasure speared through me, and it only raised as his finger went over every inch of the mark.
I was feeling it through him, but also feeling his touch inside me at the same time.
Is it always like this?
His head had lowered closer to my shoulder and I felt his breath caress me. I’ve only had one other mate, but this is more than what I remember.
I had closed my eyes and I didn’t know it until I looked at him. More?
He met my gaze, our lips an inch apart. More.
Everything beautiful I had ever experienced in my life, all the memories, all the feelings, even the tears of joy, every single one of them happened again. At once. Right now. All together, and I gasped from the onslaught of it all. My throat was choking up.
Kieran… I started, but hesitated.
He kept watching me, but his finger was moving over the mark.
Every curve, turn. The skin raised to make the outline and he went over each peak, even the details to make it look as if it were on fire.
I could see it perfectly through him, his mind.
He was letting me see through him, and I was inside of him because of it.
Did you want a mate?
Some didn’t. I would understand if he was one of those.
I didn’t when I felt you, no.
I started to look away, but his other hand caught my chin. A lone finger and he turned me to look at him again.
That’s changed. I was already coming for you, but when we felt Quessadiline’s presence, I called for Rakon without a second thought. He was rising anyways. We both felt it. Rakon has always waited for me. He’s never risen without my signal. That’s how important you are to him. His hand moved to the back of my neck, spreading out. He cupped me there. To me. You’re ours. You’re mine.
He had moved even closer, our chests were touching.
I almost felt every inch of him, and I closed my eyes, giving in.
A swell flooded me, enveloping me, and taking me.
You haven’t eaten enough yet.
I nodded, already answering his call to me. I drew his energy in, digesting it, and it wasn’t the same response as the first time. I knew now that I had been pulled into Rakon. This time, it was both of them. My energy was mingling with his, and lust exploded
